He served as Secretary of Labor and later as Secretary of Public Works and Communications in the 1930s under President Manuel L. Quezon.[2][3] When he was the Secretary of Labor,Avelino unified the labor unions by organizing them into two commissions:the National Commission of Labor (NCL) and the National Commission of Peasants (NCP) and he was designated chairman of these two commissions in 1938.[4]
Avelino ran for the Philippine presidency in the 1949 election,where he became third in a race between incumbent president Elpidio Quirino and former president JoséP. Laurel. Avelino tried to divide the Liberal Party votes for Quirino by declaring his faction as the other wing of the Liberal Party,but the latter still won with 50.93% of the votes. Avelino garnered a mere 11.85%. His vice-presidential mate,Vicente Francisco,garnered a far lower percentage (1.73%).[8]
"What are we in power for?" quote
Avelino was quoted as saying "What are we in power for?" which was said during a party caucus in Malacañang. The whole statement being:"Why did you have to order an investigation Honorable Mr. President? If you cannot permit abuses,you must at least tolerate them. What are we in power for? We are not hypocrites. Why should we pretend to be saints when in reality we are not? We are not angels. When we die,we will all go to hell. It is better to be in hell because in that place there are no investigations,no secretary of justice,no secretary of the interior to go after us."[9]
The above account is disputed by historian Quintin Doroquez.[10][11] Doroquez claims that Avelino was misquoted as corrupt by Celso Cabrera,a newsreporter who did not speak Spanish.[11] Doroquez claims that Congressman Faustino Tobia of Ilocos Norte confessed to the Avelino family later that the entire quote was fabricated and that the original context of Avelino's comment at the said party caucus on January 15,1949,was the failure of the Quirino administration to deal with the problems of the country.[11] According to Doroquez,Congressman Tobia offered the following paraphrase as closer to what Avelino actually said in Spanish at the meeting,with the translation being:"Mr. President,is it not the truth that not addressing vigorously these problems is to betray and negate fundamentally our duties as public servants? What for is our mandate from the people?"[11] In any case,the quote "What are we in power for?" was the quote attributed to Avelino and reported in The Manila Chronicle which was owned by the Lopez family,the family of then-senator Fernando Lopez.[11]
Personal life
Avelino was married to Enriqueta Casal and had four sons.[11] He is the great-grandfather of actor Paulo Avelino.[12] Calbayog,his birthplace,became a city in because of Avelino,when,as president of the Senate he pulled together three contiguous municipalities (Oquendo,Calbayog and Tinambacan) and made it into the 19th city of the Philippines,July 15,1948,the date President Elpidio Quirino signed Republic Act No. 328.[13]
Later life,death,and legacy
After his loss in the 1949 elections,he held a post as an ambassador to Then-President Elpidio Quirino. He then returned to law practice before dying on July 21,1986,at the age of 95. Honoring his 129th birthday,the Presidential Palace declared August 5,2019,as a special non-working day in the island of Samar. "The people of Calbayog acknowledge him as The Father of Calbayog City. Together with Congressman Agripino Escareal,he pushed for the creation of the City of Calbayog," the City Information Office said.[6]
Dante, Simbulan (2006). The Modern Principalia: The Historical Evolution of the Philippine Ruling Oligarchy. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN9715424961.
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